Hüsker Dü

Now, you look like you just got back from somewhere
Somewhere, yeah, you know that it's true
Together we went nearly to nowhere
Nowhere really worth going to
Standing at the City Center
In the middle of the winter
I was waiting for you
And you were due

When I got back, you said you were leaving
Leaving, you said right away
And coming back for the sake of retrieving
Things you'd forgotten on that day
Still now my eyes are burning
With the sight of your returning
Everywhere I look, I'm finding you
I remember you

Familiar places that we turned into gardens
Somewhere, yeah, you know that it's true
I'm begging you now a thousand pardons
For all of the wastelands we've been through
I remember asking whether
Or where we could be together
You smiled at me, and you said "Soon"

Love and hate was in the air, like pollen from a flower
Somewhere in April time, they add another hour

I guess I better think up a way to spend my time
Just when I'm ready to sit inside, it's summertime
Should I go swimming or get a friend to hang around
It's back to summer, it's back to basics, hang around

Getting drunk out on the beach, or playing in a band
And getting out of school meant getting out of hand

Was this your celebrated summer? Was that your celebrated summer?

Then the sun disintegrates between a wall of clouds
I summer where I winter at, and no one is allowed there

Do you remember when the first snowfall fell?
When summer barely had a snowball's chance in hell?

A nine digit number
For every living soul
That is all they talk about
At Data Control
They know everything about you
Keeping secrets is too hard
Your life is all recorded for you
In holes punched in computer cards

Data Control (digital readout)
Data Control (perforated feedout)
Data Control (microfilm files)
Data Control (1984 style)

A multinational corporation
A stockholder's dream
A nightmare of diversity
A defense system so supreme
Too technical to talk about
Too complex for layman's brains
It's enough to make you paranoid
Or drive you crazy losers sane

Well, they divided up all the land
We've got states and cities
Cities have their neighborhoods
And more subdivisions

There's countries divided by walls
Oceans and latitude
And longitude, longing to find out
Just what they're missing

There's lots of area codes
And nine digit zip codes
Secret decoder ring codes
Arteries, shopping nodes

We'll invent some new computers
Link up the global village
And get AP, UPI, Reuters
To tell everybody the news

We'll be one happy neighborhood
Spread out across the world
Who's going to stop that burglar
From breaking into my house
If he lives that far away

We'll be just like old friends
No means to your ends
The police state is too busy
And the neighborhood's getting out of hand

Big Brother on every wall
Muzak plays in all the halls
Empires see the rise and fall
They divide, conquer

It's not about my politics
Something happened way too quick
Bunch of men who played it sick
They divide, conquer

It's all here before your eyes
Safety is a big disguise
That hides among the other lies
They divide, conquer

Well, I expect I won't be heard
'Cause my silence is assured
Never a discouraging word
They divide and conquer

They divide and conquer

I can hear the treetops in the distance
I can see your hollowed eyes
What have you done to yourself in this instance?
I guess it comes as no surprise

I can see the billboards in the distance
Writing is on every wall
I don't wanna know about your business
Sooner or later, friend, you've got to fall

Every night it's gotta be adventure
The way you live your life's a crime
And if you're guilty, will you serve the sentence?
You're already doing time

There's nothing wrong with having aspirations
Nothing wrong with walking tall
But if misfortune deals the consequences
Sooner or later, friend, you've got to fall

I know the difference, you keep your distance
I don't wanna know what you've got
Is it pathetic to be sympathetic?
Maybe you don't wanna get caught
Caught up in something that's real
That could last for a lifetime
Nothing like the disease
Disease that's in your mind

There's nothing wrong with having aspirations
Nothing wrong with walking tall
But if misfortune deals the consequences
Sooner or later, friend, you've got to fall

I can see your life disintegrating
Into ashes in your hand
And I know you wouldn't want to tell me
What is wrong 'cause you're a man

I can see the billboards in the distance
Writing is on every wall
I don't wanna know about your business
Sooner or later, friend, you've got to fall

The gut From the gut
It hurts Hurts so much
The same Quite the same
You know Know too much
It's yours Yours no more
It's mine For the time
That I'm Without you

There's a girl who lives on Heaven Hill
I go up to her cabin still
She keeps a lantern lit for me
And a bottle up on her mantelpiece

She's the girl who lives on Heaven Hill

She's got a big room and it's always a mess
Worn out shoes and a worn out dress
A worn out smile that she'll wear some more
And a worn out welcome mat by her door

I'd trade big mountains and rooms full of gold
For just one look at the beauty of this woman's soul
Up on Heaven Hill is where I wanna be
That girl, that bottle, that mattress, and me

Twenty years ago, saw a friend was walking by
And I stopped him on the street to ask him how it went, and all he did was cry
I looked him in the face, but I couldn't see past his eyes
Asked him what the problem was, he says "here is your disguise"

Now he's hardly getting over it
Hardly getting used to getting by
Now he's hardly getting over it
Hardly getting used to getting by

Old man lays down by the railroad tracks
Got no paper in his pocket, got no paper on his back
I asked him what the time was, he says "to hit the road now, Jack"
Went back to see him next week, he died of a heart attack and died away

Now he's hardly getting over it
He's hardly getting used to getting by
Now he's hardly getting over it
He's hardly getting used to getting by

Grandma, she got sick, she is going to die
And Grandpa had a seizure, moved into a hotel cell and died away
My parents, they just wonder when they both are going to die
And what do I do when they die?

Now I'm hardly getting over it
Hardly getting used to getting by
Hardly getting over it
Hardly getting used to getting by

Barren lands and barren minds
In another place and time
I feel I've never known myself
Frozen in the sand again

See the blank expressions waiting for progression
They're standing still in place and time
And no one's moving, they're only
Standing still in ice cold ice cold ice

All machines and all are one
Catching up on what's been done
Stealing glimpses from the past
These impressions always last

Never penetrating, always contemplating
We sit and count the blessings but we're blessed by icons
No one else could
Trust in ice cold ice cold ice

We'll stay together till the end
Thinking you might be a friend

We sit and pray together that they might change the weather
My love for you will never die
If I sound distant, that's because
You shouldn't see me crying ice cold ice

Government authorize education
[Don't mean a thing]
They'll teach you what they want you to think
[Don't mean a thing]
Saturation of stars and stripes
[Don't mean a thing]
The only freedom worth fighting for is for what you think

Why bother spending time
Reading up on things
Everybody's an authority
In a free land

You can do what you want to do
You can say what you want to say
You can think what you think you want
It doesn't matter anyway

It's not funny anymore

Play what you want to play
Hear what you want to hear
Don't worry about the result
Or the effect it has on your career

Act like you want to act
Be what you want to be
Find out who you really are
And don't pay any attention to me

Only angels have wings, girl
And poets have all the words
The earth belongs to the two of us
And the sky belongs to the birds
You've given me so much happiness
That I'll wrap up and give you this song
You gotta grab it with both hands
You gotta keep hanging on...

The cat walks to the window
And I hear the key turn in the door
Know one knows and anything goes
And everything falls on the floor
The apartment starts shaking
And the roof opens up to the sun
The crows flying in parallel lines
And golly, isn't this great fun?

Laying in each other's arms
We're sleepy, begin to nod
And we start to dream of grandiose things
Oh god, oh god, oh god
You gotta keep hanging on

New day rising
(repeat to end)

What's this humming in my head
Was it something that someone said
It's connecting us with them
Electric wires turned on again

It aggravates, and it pacifies
Hear the power in the lines

Strung high on every pole
How can this power be bought and sold?
Trying to harness solar rays
Making minutes seem like days

It captivates, and it hypnotize
Hear the power in the lines
Powerline

With her grandmother's face and her father's brown eyes
Her own force of will to her mother's surprise
A whole look about her that says that she may
She lifted her arms and she floated away

She floated away, she floated away
She lifted her arms and she floated away
She don't give a damn what the other girls say
She lifted her arms and she floated away

"Let me talk to you Mother," she tried to confess
"Go ahead, honey, and wear the white dress
Don't let traditions go stand in your way"
She lifted her arms and she floated away

She floated away, she floated away
She lifted her arms and she floated away
She don't give a damn what the other girls say
She lifted her arms and she floated away

Well, a man has two reasons for things that he does
The first one is pride and the second one is love
All understandings must come by this way
She lifted her arms and she floated away

She floated away, she floated away
She lifted her arms and she floated away
She don't give a damn what the other girls say
She lifted her arms and she floated away

Well the kids are all hopped up and ready to go
They're ready to go now
They got their surfboards
And they're going to the Discotheque Du Go Go
But Sheena just couldn't stay
She had to break away
Well New York City really has it all
Oh ya, oh ya.

Sheena is a punk rocker
Sheena is a punk rocker
Sheena is a punk rocker now.
She's a punk punk, a punk rocker
Punk punk, a punk rocker
Punk punk, a punk rocker.

Looking outside my window
And all I see is grey
I'm watching the clouds roll by every day
And we make a reservation
You say you'll be on time
I say, "I might be a little late"

Well, I pull it together and brush my teeth
And comb my hair
I stop to think and I can see you there
I think of the times you've waited
Just for me to care
I care about you

Checking the clock inside
The room we call our own
I see that I'm late, I should be going
Hop on a local transit
Spending all my change
And I can still hear the telephone

I wanna go back, but I'm halfway to
The place where we will meet
And I'm half dead on my feet
And once I get there, I see
Everything's the same
Here comes the rain
You left me standing

I should have guessed that you'd stand me up
Why did I even go, now
And I guess it goes to show
The snow may well thaw out
But it goes right down the drain
You left me
You left me
You left me
You left me
You left me standing in the rain

You've seen it all before
You think it's passe
But you listen to the same fucking records
Every single day
You don't like the people who caught on late
If they're having fun,

Don't participate, be lethargic
You're a hypocrite, you're the target

Well, I see you walking down the road
And the thoughts within my mind explode
But having to hold back taught me a lot about control
And letting all loose at once when it was time to let you know
You occupied my space and you occupied your mind
By jumping off the roof to the first conclusion you can find

Now all the silver you can steal
Can't buy a piece of what I feel
It's sad, but the means, they just don't justify the ends
To be forever haunted by the ghosts of all your friends
Painful, yeah, that's the way you've chosen it to be
C'mon, babe, can't you think of anyone besides me?

These are the terms!

Now don't think you're the only who has harboured a self-hate
I'm just as guilty of selling what my own sweet soul creates
And don't feel bad the next time my memory comes creepin'
You've got your own bed now, I suggest that's the one you sleep in

I was talking
When I should have been listening
I didn't hear a word that anyone said
It must not have been so very important
'Cause I was concerned about instead

What's going on
What's going on
What's going on inside my head

Don't speak unless spoken to
And then you don't say much
You think you're so self-righteous
But your mind is out of touch

You're afraid, you're afraid of being wrong
Always be the passive one and go along
You're afraid, you're afraid to speak your mind
That's not for me, not for me, not for me

Living in a crystal maze
Fucked, you can't get out
Never be the agitator
Unless you know what it's all about

Got something to say
Like something to me
Well just go ahead and spit it out
It's all the same, you see
What's that, it doesn't make sense
Are you talking in tongues
Or is your brain out of gear
I can hear it rattle in your head

I can see your lips move
BLAH BLAH BLAH
But all I hear is

Got something to say
Like something to me
Well just go ahead and spit it out
It's all the same, you see
It's coming out better
But it doesn't make sense
Is that a head on your shoulders
Or something you use for ornamentation

Brick on the head from the top of the ceiling
Urban sniper, urban killer
Won't be finished until you're dead
Urban sniper, urban killer
Brick out the window, top of the head
Brick on the head 'cause you're a fuckhead
Brick at the window, top of my head
You're a fuckhead

If I listened to the things that you said
Everything would fall apart
If I did all the things that you do
Everything could fall apart
Let's not listen to the things that they say
Everything can fall apart
Let's think about our actions before we do them
Everything will fall apart

I got nothing to do
You got nothing to say
Everything is so fucked up
I guess it's natural that way

Everything falls apart

If I did all the things that you do
Everything could fall apart
If I listened to the things that you told me
Everything would fall apart
Let's think about our actions before we do them
Everything will fall apart
If we do all the things as we say
Everything can fall apart

I got nothing to do
You got nothing to say
Everything is so fucked up
I guess it's natural that way

I got nothing to do
You got nothing to say
Everything is so fucked up
I guess we like it that way

If I listened to the things that
You said everything

The gut From the gut
It hurts Hurts so much
The same Quite the same
You know Know too much
It's yours Yours no more
It's mine For the time
That I'm Without you

It's only getting darker
It may be moving faster
Well it won't stop spinning
But how long will it remain?

This repulsive world
The crimes we all commit
It's not your gravity
It's not your gravity
Gravity

The tension keeps building
The changes are rapid
We're through competing
Is it better to retreat?

This repulsive world
The crimes we all comit
It's not your gravity
It's not my gravity
Gravity

Government authorize education
[Don't mean a thing]
They'll teach you what they want you to think
[Don't mean a thing]
Saturation of stars and stripes
[Don't mean a thing]
The only freedom worth fighting for is for what you think

Why bother spending time
Reading up on things
Everybody's an authority
In a free land

Time for a lottery, they got your number
Blood for fuel, and limbs for lumber
They just wanted more machines
For their modern war machine

M.I.C. Am I seeing it right?
M.I.C. Must be time to fight
M.I.C. The war machine is growing
M.I.C. I'm not fucking going

Tell us we're obnoxious
You can't sell our product
Who asked you to?
Say we play too fast
The music's not gonna last
Well, I think you're wrong

You don't like the way we look
Obnoxious
You don't like the way we talk
Obnoxious
You can all go get fucked
Obnoxious

Take a look around this bar
Take a look around this place
Take a look around this hall
Think it's a fucking gym?
Kick and punch and kick and punch and kick and punch and kick and punch
Who's your friend? Who's your friend?
Who's your friend? Who's your friend?
Your enemy.

Take a look around this bar
Take a look around this place
Take a look right in the mirror
What are you, a fucking queer?
Kick and punch and kick and punch and kick and punch and kick and punch
Who's your friend? Where's your friend?
He's over there, he's gonna fuck it up
For everybody.

Kick and punch and kick and punch and kick and punch and kick and punch
Who's your friend? Who's your friend?
Where's your friend? I guess he'd rather be punch drunk.

You're like a relic, you're like a ghost
Can't see a thing 'cause your eyes are closed
Dirt cheap love is a thing of the past
I feel hate 'cause I move fast

You think the whole world is incense, peace and love
You can't escape the signals from above

Sunshine Superman


Sunshine came softly through my window today
I could have tripped out easy but I've changed my ways.
It'll take time I know it, but in a while...
You're gonna be mine and I know it, we'll do it in style.

Cause I've made my mind up you're going to be mine
I'll tell you right now...
Any trick in the book, oh baby, that I can find.
Everybody's hustling just to have a little scene.
When I say we'll be cool, well, I think that, you know what I
mean.
We stood on a beach at sunset, do you remember when...
I know a beach where baby, it never ends.

When you've made your mind up forever to be mine.
I'll pick up your hand and slowly, blow your little mind.
Cause I've made my mind up you're going to be mine
I'll tell you right now...
Any trick in the book, oh baby, that I can find

Superman or Green Lantern ain't got, nothin' on me.
I can make like a turtle and dive for pearls in the sea
You can just sit there thinkin', on your velvet throne
About all the rainbows you can have for your own.

When you've made your mind up forever to be mine.

I'll tell you right now...
I'll pick up your hand and slowly, blow your little mind.

When you've made your mind up forever to be mine.
I'll pick up your hand and slowly, blow your little mind.

I'll tell you right now...

You've seen it all before
You think it's passe
But you listen to the same fucking records
Every single day
You don't like the people who caught on late
If they're having fun,

Don't participate, be lethargic
You're a hypocrite, you're the target

On a date with Sharon Tate
I'm gonna pick her up in my new crate
Well we go to the movies, we go to the drag
The highway patrol puts us both in a bag

Wheels, wheels

Statue of Mary sitting on my dash
Mother, please protect me
Help me avoid the crash
I've got a really big engine
And it goes vroom, vroom
Could be a cradle, could be a tomb

It's a one-horse town
One big desert
Asphalt desert
Asphalt jungle

Beyond the threshold, beyond the threshold

Change for the worse
Change nonetheless
Hey hey hey
Got no place to stay

Beyond the threshold

I hear machines
They burst at the seams
But tar and feathers
All stick together

Beyond the threshold, beyond the threshold

Greetings from here
I wish you were here
Hear what I say but
You can't hear me at all

Beyond the threshold...

I picked up my belongings
In a nylon carry-all
I hear the porter call
He said, "The sky's the limit
On this chartered trip away,"
Guess I'd better stay

Out there on the desert
I see trees on every wall
Nothing's ever solved
He said, "The sky's the limit
On this chartered trip away,"
Guess I'd better stay away

I thought I owed myself a trip away
I wanted to go to places
I have never been away
I looked at the pictures
Imagine where they lay away
On a beach, by the sea
Where their clothes all lay away

I picked up my belongings
In a nylon carry-all
I hear the porter call
Horizon is oblivious, chartered trip away
Guess I'd better stay

Out there on the desert
I see trees on every wall
Nothing's ever solved
Horizon is oblivious, chartered trip away
Guess I'd better stay away

I thought I owed myself a trip away
I wanted to go to places
I have never been away
I looked at the pictures
Imagine where they lay away
On a beach, by the sea
Where their clothes all lay away

I picked up my belongings
In a nylon carry-all
I hear the porter call
He said, "There's no returning
From this chartered trip away,"...

Krsna walking down the street
Touching me with lotus feet
Going to talk to Radharani
Going to ask her for her money
Hare Krsna

Questions like a candle that's burning at both ends
Never find an answer that fits in your plans
Back and forth between the good and the bad it's indecision time
You're so natural, you're so free
So don't decide what's best for me

Nothing in your life is ever going on course
You wonder if living could be much worse

Go to the left, go to the right
Your mind is going to keep you up all night
You twist in your sleep, grabbing the sheets, sweating to death

Sucking on pollution like a rattle in your mouth
You're a big fucking kid, you don't know what you're about

Tell me about your fellow man
You wipe their shit all over your hands

Can you feel it, feel it, feel it
In your soul
Can you tell me
Tell me if it's hot or cold

Can you tell me what it is
Does it hurt you when I do this

Stop it, stop it, stop it
You're pulling too hard
Stop it
You're going too far

I love it, I hate it, I love it
I hate it too
I love it
So how about you?

Can you tell me 'cause I don't know
Why don't you tell me why it is so
Confusing!

There are things that I'd like to say
But I'm never talking to you again
There's things that I'd like to phrase some way
But I'm never talking to you again

I'm never talking to you again
I'm never talking to you
I'm tired of wasting all my time
Trying to talk to you

I'd put you down where you belong
But I'm never talking to you again
I'd show you everywhere you're wrong
But I'm never talking to you again

Been through mass destruction once, but once was not enough
Said we want a second chance, and all they say is tough
A world where science went too far, there's no way to survive
Why can't we get this thing straightened out, 'cause I want to stay alive

They burned and bombed the east and north, and there's no place left to go
The Sun Belt's overcrowded, so let's annex Mexico
The peso's only worth a dime, but they've got all that land
There's no need for a civil war - we know they'll understand, right?

Is that how you like it?

Factories left unattended, crumbling to the ground
We tried to keep them running, but there's no more oil around
We used it all to fight a war that neither side could win
Well, Vietnam was Little League compared to where we've been

Now we live in caves and huts, and we don't have pay TV
And everyone is signing up for the newest industry
Standard oil goes solar power, all try to make a buck
I'll sit around, smoke cigarettes, and I'll babble, "What the fuck?"

That's how I like it

We'll sign up for the newest industry...

Going out each day to score
She was no whore but for me
Celebrating every day
The way she thought it should be

And I don't know what to do
Now that pink has turned to blue
And I don't know what to do
Now that pink has turned to blue

She was always by my side
And never tried to leave
Standing up for me
And like a tree for what she believed

And I don't know what to do
Now that pink has turned to blue
And I don't know what to do
Now that pink has turned to blue

No more rope and too much dope
She's lying on the bed
Angels pacing
Gently placing roses 'round her head

Why did you back me into a corner?
I didn't mean it, it was just an act
My friend's outside, can't he come in?
And everybody else

Stupid pride
Selfish pride
Stupid pride

Why does everybody have to be like that?

"Out", just an act
His parents love him
They send him money
But he won't come back
No reaction, no response
Forget him, just forget him

Something I learned today
Black and white is always grey
Looking through the window pane
I'm not inside your brain

Something I learned today
Yield to the right-of-way
Stopping at a four-way sign
Someone else's rules, not mine

Something I learned today
Never look straight in the sun's rays
Letting all the sunshine in
Can't remember where I've been

Searching for the truth but all I ever find is lies
Trying to find identity but I just find a disguise
Looking at the nightmare when I try to see the dream
Finding a reality as perfect as it seems
Somewhere the dirt is washed down with the rain
Somewhere there's happiness instead of pain
Somewhere satisfaction has no name
Somewhere I can be the same

Looking down on everything it seems a total bore
Missing all the people that I've never met before
Trying to find an unknown something I consider best
I don't know if I'll find it, but until then I'll be
DEPRESSED ...

There was no one all around
There was no one there but me
I was staring out a window
I was standing by the sea

The waves kept on repeating
Each one crashing to the shore
And my footprints nowhere leading
As they disappeared once more

Your senses are bombarded
By the roaring that you hear
In a shell you can hear the ocean
When you put it up to your ear

You think you've made it to the top
Because people know your name
It's still the same
Your daydreams aren't forever
Better get your shit together for a new game
Back to your day job
Back to your girlfriend
Back to your hometown
The biggest lie

Passing harsher judgment
But you brought it on yourself by being you
Your trade your respect for no success
You tried to be a hero
But you end up nothing

Don't give up
Don't let go
Don't give in
Don't let on
In your bed
Late at night
Red hot red
Don't get up

If there's one thing that I can't explain
Is why the world has to have so much pain
With all the ways of communicating
We can't get in touch with who we're hating

So turn on, turn on, turn on the news

I hear it every day on the radio
Somebody shoots a guy he don't even know
Airplanes falling out of the sky
A baby is born and another one dies
Highways fill with refugees
Doctors finding out about disease
With all this uptight pushing and shoving
That keeps us away from who we're loving

So turn on, turn on, turn on the news

He lives in his imagination with those friends of his very own
He doesn't get along with the outside world, he'd rather be alone
Sometimes when it's late at night he starts to wonder why
(The plans he made can never happen, so all he does is cry)

His parents, they can't understand why their son, he turned out wrong
He runs away from all the pain, and forgets them when he's gone
He'd rather be all by himself, because his plans they seem the best
He finally gets the nerve one day, and now life becomes a test

Whatever you want, whatever you do, wherever you go, whatever you say
Whatever you want, whatever you do, wherever you go, whatever you say
Whatever you want, whatever you do, wherever you go, whatever you say
Whatever you want, whatever you do, wherever you go, whatever you say

Mom and Dad, I'm sorry, Mom and Dad, don't worry
I'm not the son you wanted, but what could you expect?
I've made my world of happiness to combat your neglect

Well, the actual condition of my mind
Is elusive as the answers that I find
I keep going through transition
From doubt to indecision
It's the actual condition of my mind

Well, the actual condition of my soul
Sometimes feels like being sucked into a hole
And I've come to this position
Regardless of religion
It's the actual condition of my soul

The actual condition of my heart
Feels like two hands that are ripping it apart
I keep losing definition
But still I keep on wishin'
It's the actual condition of my heart

Now, you look like you just got back from somewhere
Somewhere, yeah, you know that it's true
Together we went nearly to nowhere
Nowhere really worth going to
Standing at the City Center
In the middle of the winter
I was waiting for you
And you were due

When I got back, you said you were leaving
Leaving, you said right away
And coming back for the sake of retrieving
Things you'd forgotten on that day
Still now my eyes are burning
With the sight of your returning
Everywhere I look, I'm finding you
I remember you

Familiar places that we turned into gardens
Somewhere, yeah, you know that it's true
I'm begging you now a thousand pardons
For all of the wastelands we've been through
I remember asking whether
Or where we could be together
You smiled at me, and you said "Soon"

I can walk the bed of nails
I'm not the only one
But some, they cannot walk the jagged line
Callous, concentrating
For nails are sharp as lies
I run the jagged line

From years and years of practice
I know just how to stand
Alone with perfect balance, hand in hand
Prepared with boards and hammers
And several bags of nails
I could build a wall to lean on
Roof above my mind
I can see you've got your own plans
Please don't drive your nails into this heart of mine

I can walk the bed of nails
Grin and bear the pain
But some, they cannot deal with all things
Always sacrificing
For lies are sharp as nails
And all the pain it brings

Sometimes I just pretend that all the lies are true
And I know I might depend on you
But if my concentration breaks
I'm washed away with pain
And then my feet begin to bleed upon my only bed of nails
And I'm stuck here in the middle of a sea of lies
Inside my bed of nails

From years and years of practice
I know just how to stand
Alone with perfect balance, hand in hand
Prepared with boards and hammers
And several bags of nails
I could build a wall to lean on
Roof above my mind
I can see you've got your own plans
Please don't drive your nails into this heart of mine

She gave her little child a name
A ward of welfare she became
And then one day she met a man
Digging through the trash for cans

Charity, chastity, prudence, and hope

It was his aluminum
That attracted her to him
And quite a day there did unfold
Turning garbage into gold

Charity, chastity, prudence, and hope

She took that money in a trunk
And bought a bunch of worthless junk
And now they're back where they began
Digging through the trash for cans

Charity, chastity, prudence, and hope

Barren lands and barren minds
In another place and time
I feel I've never known myself
Frozen in the sand again

See the blank expressions waiting for progression
They're standing still in place and time
And no one's moving, they're only
Standing still in ice cold ice cold ice

All machines and all are one
Catching up on what's been done
Stealing glimpses from the past
These impressions always last

Never penetrating, always contemplating
We sit and count the blessings but we're blessed by icons
No one else could
Trust in ice cold ice cold ice

We'll stay together till the end
Thinking you might be a friend

We sit and pray together that they might change the weather
My love for you will never die
If I sound distant, that's because
You shouldn't see me crying ice cold ice

I hear some news, I read the words
It's different every day
I get my thoughts from a letter that's lost
That someone threw away
It says, "Don't give up, 'cause you can't give away"
The thought's appreciated
Now at the best, you've second guessed
And never should you have waited

(Never changes the things I feel inside
Sit by a lake and cry
Like a shingle on a roof in a windstorm
Should I let loose and fly?)

An overpass, and some corn in a field
Fat birds on the line
Dented guard rail, immaculate bumper
Protecting your design
A broken down shack with a pond in the back
Laundry out to dry
Some of them barren, some of them whole
All of them have no time

(Never changes the things I feel inside
Sit by a lake and cry
Like a shingle on a roof in a windstorm
Should I let loose and fly?)

Come along with me
Come along, come along with me
We'll go to places that we have never seen
And if we're together, we'll have a happy time
'Cause I got no reservations

With her grandmother's face and her father's brown eyes
Her own force of will to her mother's surprise
A whole look about her that says that she may
She lifted her arms and she floated away

She floated away, she floated away
She lifted her arms and she floated away
She don't give a damn what the other girls say
She lifted her arms and she floated away

"Let me talk to you Mother," she tried to confess
"Go ahead, honey, and wear the white dress
Don't let traditions go stand in your way"
She lifted her arms and she floated away

She floated away, she floated away
She lifted her arms and she floated away
She don't give a damn what the other girls say
She lifted her arms and she floated away

Well, a man has two reasons for things that he does
The first one is pride and the second one is love
All understandings must come by this way
She lifted her arms and she floated away

She floated away, she floated away
She lifted her arms and she floated away
She don't give a damn what the other girls say
She lifted her arms and she floated away

Looking outside my window
And all I see is grey
I'm watching the clouds roll by every day
And we make a reservation
You say you'll be on time
I say, "I might be a little late"

Well, I pull it together and brush my teeth
And comb my hair
I stop to think and I can see you there
I think of the times you've waited
Just for me to care
I care about you

Checking the clock inside
The room we call our own
I see that I'm late, I should be going
Hop on a local transit
Spending all my change
And I can still hear the telephone

I wanna go back, but I'm halfway to
The place where we will meet
And I'm half dead on my feet
And once I get there, I see
Everything's the same
Here comes the rain
You left me standing

I should have guessed that you'd stand me up
Why did I even go, now
And I guess it goes to show
The snow may well thaw out
But it goes right down the drain
You left me
You left me
You left me
You left me
You left me standing in the rain

I see the sun and I see the calendar
The days go floating by so slowly in a blur
I read the numbers and I discard everyone
I burn my fingers on the pages of the sun

I'll tell you why tomorrow

Moonlight pulling all the water to the beaches
Soaking time into everything that it reaches
Turn it upside down and count the spilling sand
Seize the moment with a minute hand

I'll tell you why tomorrow

Men and animals are floating through the sky
Every month or so a new one passes by
Forming circles 'round the planets in the air
Find a newspaper and it is printed there

I'll tell you why tomorrow

Well, you get up every morning
And you see it's still the same
All the floors and all the walls
And all the rest remains
Nothing changes fast enough
The hurry-worry days
It makes you want to give it up
And drift into a haze

Revelations seem to be another way
To make the days go fast anyways

We're all exchanging pleasantries
No matter how we feel
And no one knows the difference
'Cause it all seems so unreal
You'd better grab ahold of something
Simple, but it's true
If you don't stop to smell the roses now
They might end up on you

Expectations only mean you really think you know
What's coming next, and you don't

Yearbooks with their autographs
From friends you might have had
These are your important years
You'd better make them last
Falling in and out of love just like...
These are your important years, your life

Once you've seen the light, you suddenly
Realize it might end up all right
It might end up all right now

Yearbooks with their autographs
From friends you might have had
These are your important years
You'd better make them last
Falling in and out of love just like...
These are your important years, your life

You never used to care for fancy new obsessions
You never used to have a reason to be bored
Now you indulge yourself with new ways of possession
Now you indulge yourself and your feelings are ignored
And you're coloring your life with too much spice

There was a time, there was a place, there was a reason
There was a situation comfortable for you
You've tasted everything in this here bag of season
But now you're bored and you've run out of things to do
And you're coloring your life with too much spice

You don't see anything, your eyes are so revealing
They're sharply focused on looking for a thrill
You've turned so numb, you never notice any feeling
Your thoughts are dead and you've still got some time to kill
And you're coloring your life with too much spice

Several times I've tried
Everything to make you feel all right
(Turn it around) Is anything working?
Several times I've died inside
And then I see you get uptight
(Turn it around) We gotta get back
Turn it around

I've got time on my side
And you've got time on your side
Now it's only time to decide
Which side you're on
We've tried everything in sight
To make it turn out all right

Now is the only time
Now is the only time
Now it's time to try to turn it around

Several times I've wished
That everything would slip into a void
(Turn it around) Does it even matter now?
It's time to figure out
The things we want, and things that we'll avoid
(Turn it around) We gotta get back
Turn it around

I don't grab for straws anymore
And you don't sink your claws anymore
But the more I think
The less I really know about myself
We gotta turn it around
Before it goes into the ground

Now is the only time
Now is the only time
Now it's time to try to turn it around

Several times tried to turn it around
Several ways tried to turn it around

There's several morals and there's several plays
Several parts that anyone can try
It's enough to make you cry
I may not think that I'm right
But I know the things I've got
Are gonna turn out all right
We gotta get back, turn it around

I may not be anything
And you might be the biggest thing
But the biggest thing to me
Is making this thing work for life
We gotta turn it around
Before it goes into the ground

Now is the only time
Now is the only time
Now it's time to try to turn it around

Several times tried to turn it around
Several ways tried to turn it around

Several times tried to turn it around
Several ways tried to turn it around

Pass away the hours, hear the footsteps of the past
Walking up the stairs of time, knowing that I'm trapped
Cold winds of indifference persuade a movement south
Thinking that it's better there
The warmer climes that we seek out

Poor bird flies up in the air, never getting anywhere
And how much misery can one soul take?
Trying to fly away might have been your first mistake
Poor bird flies up in the air
Never getting anywhere

Picking petals off a flower, loves me, loves me not
Is love another way to count the things you haven't got?
We wish the best to all our friends, young and old alike
When the dust has settled in the sky, you can have anything you like

Poor bird flies up in the air, never getting anywhere
And how much misery can one soul take?
Trying to fly away might have been your first mistake
Poor bird flies up in the air
Never getting anywhere

Poor bird flies up in the air, never getting anywhere
And how much misery can one soul take?
Trying to fly away might have been your first mistake
Poor bird flies up in the air
Never getting anywhere

Panhandle, pedal faster
Playing card, listen, master
Pointed gun, aim to please
No one talking, no one sees
Take a stand and collect
Images and imageless
Think in rhymes every time
Someone was a friend of mine

Visionary, in a cage, Londonderry
Visionary, foggiest notion, visionary
Visionary
Strip away the silver and the gold

Torn up stories in your cage
Never time to be a sage
So sublime
Growing old before your time

Visionary, in a cage, Londonderry
Visionary, foggiest notion, visionary
Visionary
Strip away the silver and the gold

You're looking for a chance to give your mind a rest
Now please correct me if I'm wrong
The story goes that I'm terribly impressed
I guess I've known it all along
Walk, walk away, keep on walking away

Figured it out that I'd been wasting all my time
And time was eating at my soul
Now I find comfort only somewhere in my mind
Free to pursue another goal
Walk, walk away, keep on walking away

I can be fine, I can be free
I can be beautiful without you torturing me
Walk, walk away, keep on walking away
Go

You can live at home now
You can live at home now

When I was younger, worrying about it
Trying to make these decisions for myself
And I go on to ask myself what's right and wrong about it
And I don't really know what makes it, ask yourself

Now I see you, you want to ask me
I want you to ask me, I want you to ask me
What does it matter? What does it mean?

Sometimes I don't know why you want to try and help me
I get so confused I start to fall over backwards
Then I ask this to myself, and see within myself
And wonder what it means, and ask these questions to myself

Now I'm a little bit older
And I'm not a hell of a lot wiser
So I've gotta sit down and contemplate it

Should I talk to the mirror, should I talk to the wall?
Should I even talk at all?
Would a little tiny bit of action, would it make it even seem to matter anymore?
I guess it matters just to you

All this I've done for you

Avalanche looms overhead
Airplane flies overhead
Important man sits by the window
Sucked out of the first class window

Images run by, a thousand miles an hour
But the time seems far away
Folding clothes in a folding closet
Folding money in your resume

It's time to let off some pressure
It's time to let off some steam
All your notebooks get thrown away
And you start your diary clean

Crystal glass lined up in a row
Watched over by the G.I. Joes
Sugar in your coffee doesn't taste quite right
Feeling the effects for a hundred thousand nights

When civilization falls in its grave
Technology throws on the dirt
You realize the finest things in life
Are the ones that can never be hurt

Time to let off some pressure
Time to let off some steam
All your notebooks get thrown away
You start your diary clean

Crystal glass lined up in a row
Watched over by the G.I. Joes
Sugar in your coffee doesn't taste quite right
Feeling the effects for a hundred thousand nights

Shatters your brain
It shatters your brain
Shatters your brain
It shatters your brain

Shatters your brain in a million tiny pieces
The sounds you hear aren't coming out right
You think it might be mystic, you think I might be cryptic
The crystal in your china case is breaking in a million tiny pieces

Well, I'm standing in the queue
And I can't stand any more missing you
And I can't stand the pain
And I can't get home 'cause of a hurricane

Dead set on destruction
Dead set on destruction

There's no flights home today
And no services out on the motorway
And I can't leave the ground
And I can't find a place now to put her down

Dead set on destruction
Dead set on destruction

The Atlantic winds are high
There's only one virgin and she don't fly
And they can't land the plane
And they can't get home 'cause of a hurricane

Dead set on destruction
Dead set on destruction
Dead set on destruction
Dead set on destruction

I'm curious to know exactly how you are
I keep my distance but that distance is too far
It reassures me just to know that you're okay
But I don't want you to go on needing me this way

And I don't want to know if you are lonely
Don't want to know if you are less than lonely
Don't want to know if you are lonely
Don't want to know, don't want to know

The day you left me, left me feeling oh so bad
Still I'm not sure about all the doubts we had
From the beginning we both knew it wouldn't last
Decisions have been made, the die has been cast

I don't want to know if you are lonely
Don't want to know if you are less than lonely
Don't want to know if you are lonely
Don't want to know, don't want to know

The phone is ringing and the clock says four A.M.
If it's your friends, well, I don't want to hear from them
Please leave your number and a message at the tone
Or you can just go on and leave me alone

But I don't want to know if you are lonely
Don't want to know if you are less than lonely
Don't want to know if you are lonely
Don't want to know, don't want to know

Twenty years ago, saw a friend was walking by
And I stopped him on the street to ask him how it went, and all he did was cry
I looked him in the face, but I couldn't see past his eyes
Asked him what the problem was, he says "here is your disguise"

Now he's hardly getting over it
Hardly getting used to getting by
Now he's hardly getting over it
Hardly getting used to getting by

Old man lays down by the railroad tracks
Got no paper in his pocket, got no paper on his back
I asked him what the time was, he says "to hit the road now, Jack"
Went back to see him next week, he died of a heart attack and died away

Now he's hardly getting over it
He's hardly getting used to getting by
Now he's hardly getting over it
He's hardly getting used to getting by

Grandma, she got sick, she is going to die
And Grandpa had a seizure, moved into a hotel cell and died away
My parents, they just wonder when they both are going to die
And what do I do when they die?

Now I'm hardly getting over it
Hardly getting used to getting by
Hardly getting over it
Hardly getting used to getting by

If I could change my mind, what changes would it bring?
If I could change you, well, it wouldn't change a thing
So now you know and now you shouldn't be afraid
Oh, no promise have I made

Tell me a story, tell me just another lie
Well, I can tell you set your expectations high
Well, now I've faced up to you facing me betrayed
Oh, no promise have I made

Well, there's some green and there's some white and there's some gold
But brighter colors I have left you to behold
It's your good fortune there's a fortune to be paid
Oh, no promise have I made

Time heals, time goes on and time really flies
Time hurts and time can cut you, cut you down to size
There's no need to touch you now, no, I'm doing fine
Life too can cut you and I've cut you out of mine

You're making me sorry
Sorry somehow
You're making me sorry
Sorry somehow

There's no need to talk to you, well, to know what's on your mind
There's no need to see you either, no, I'm just being kind
You want me to beg forgiveness, tender an apology
It's not my fault and you're not getting one from me

You're making me sorry
Sorry somehow
You're making me sorry
Sorry somehow

Now I guess it's your decision, now you decide
Take me to the cleaners baby, take me for a ride
Whoever cares for your affairs will sort it out for you
Send me a subpoena, baby, tell me what to do

You're making me sorry
Sorry somehow
You're making me sorry
Sorry somehow

I don't have to think about you, think about the past
Those days stand out in my mind and those days were the last
I know the time is coming and I'm waiting for the day
I'd give you everything in the world just to get it out of the way

You're making me sorry
Sorry somehow
You're making me sorry
Sorry somehow

I'm down again
And I don't know how to tell you
But maybe this time I can't come back
Because I might be too far down

I wish for real
That I could turn it on and off
Like hot and cold and up and down
Because I'm down again

I'm too far down
I couldn't begin to smile
Because I can't even laugh or cry
Because I just can't do it

If it was so easy to be happy
Why am I so down?
All I can do is sit and wonder if it's going to end
Or if I should just go away forever

When I sit and think
I wish that I just could die
Or let someone else be happy
By setting my own self free

And you don't want the emotion
Because the taste it leaves is for real
But nothing's ever real until it's gone
And I might be too far down

And is this just another thrown away
Or is this the end of the whole stupid road
But you wouldn't want to know how I feel anyway
Because the darkest hole is at the end of the road

I'm down again
And I guess I'm not the only one who dreams
That there's not any way to tell you
Because I might be too far down